As a mathematician I'm always interested in number, facts and following some research via the Bureau of Meteorology website, where I have discovered the dry spell we have been experiencing is not new.

Your readers might like to know the results for Orange, from records dating back to 1880.

The top ten driest years were as follows: 1982 (324mm); 1944 (372mm); 1957 (453mm); 2019 (466mm); 2006 (476mm); 1919 (491mm); 1888 (511mm); 1946 (520mm); 1940 (528mm); 1902 (534mm).

The current dry, hot weather is not a new phenomenon.

It will rain again and my prayer is this will happen very soon and then not only will our precious farmers' dams be overflowing but our major storage facilities will also be full.